Seeding Tournaments: 3RC vs. Pegula Challenge

Construction is underway at HARBORcenter, adjacent to the Sabres' First Niagara Center

Last Friday, Buffalo sports blog Two in the Box (which happens to be written by ACHA Director of Public Relations Chris Ostrander) presented an idea for an in-season tournament called the Pegula Challenge (a working title). It's an interesting concept, using the Terry Pegula/Sabres-funded HARBORcenter as a tool to heighten the city's profile in college hockey through a four-team showcase played at the neighboring First Niagara Center. And, as you may have guessed, Penn State is one of 2ITB's proposed guests thanks to the Pegula connection, along with Buffalo-area schools Canisius and Niagara. Canisius, of course, will call HARBORcenter home beginning next season.

So what of the Three Rivers Classic, the Pittsburgh-based holiday tournament that has hosted PSU in each of the Nittany Lions' first two varsity seasons? It needs to be pointed out that with Penn State having 14 out-of-conference slots available until more Big Ten schools jump to NCAA Division I, there is room for both tournaments on the schedule. Boston College, just to cite one example, will play in both the Three Rivers Classic and the Beanpot this season, navigating much less breathing room to do so.

But hypothetically, because it's August, and because I don't write enough pure opinion pieces, what if both are played over the holidays and it has to be one or the other? Which do you choose?

Facility

Consol Energy Center and First Niagara Center are both, obviously, NHL facilities. Both are less than 20 years old and therefore meet some arbitrary standard of niceness (with a slight edge there going to the CEC, which is 14 years newer and possibly the best arena in the NHL right now). What swings this category for the Pegula Challenge, though, is HARBORcenter. While it wouldn't be the site of the Pegula Challenge games, I have to think that the intelligent people running the show up there would be smart enough to integrate the rink/restaurant/hotel/retail colossus as much as possible. Fan events like a skate with the players could be a part of things, or maybe even a parallel tournament involving youth teams from Buffalo (and one from PA, of course). The only limit is the imagination.

Advantage: Pegula Challenge

2013 Atlantic Hockey tournament champ Canisius is a program on the rise

Opponent Lineup

In this brave new world (for Penn State) of the PairWise Rankings, there's not really a ton of room for scheduling charity. If you want an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, you need to rack up quality wins, period. One of my bigger concerns with the Pegula Challenge, then, is that two of PSU's three possible opponents would be locked-in Atlantic Hockey teams, with the third possibly a Big Ten that the Nittany Lions would be playing anyway. Beyond its attractiveness to a school like Penn State, I'm skeptical of the Pegula Challenge's ability to grab a major PWR (and ticket) mover for that fourth team, even assuming that PSU is established as a force by the time things get going. That's not intended to be a slam on Canisius and Niagara, as both are programs with sincere aspirations and both may be on the way after making the NCAA Tournament last year. But Robert Morris also deserves to be in that category, and until those aspirations are fulfilled by one or more of the AHA teams, I'm going to side with the proven flexibility that has already landed national powers Miami and Boston College.

As a second facet to this category, the Three Rivers Classic seems to better lend itself to becoming a long-standing tradition. Last year's inaugural field was sort of an Ohio vs. Pennsylvania Beanpot, played in a major city fairly close to the border. While 2013's group has departed from that idea with BC's inclusion, there's definite potential for a connection lasting past however long Pegula owns the Sabres.

Advantage: Three Rivers Classic

10,797 tickets were sold for the 2012 Three Rivers Classic's PSU-OSU consolation game

Fan Support/Revenue

The Three Rivers Classic is a known quantity. Using a one ticket per day setup, last season's inaugural event moved 11,663 seats on day one (PSU-Robert Morris and Ohio State-Miami) followed by 10,797 on day two (PSU-OSU, RMU-MU). Root Sports Pittsburgh also gave the consolation and championship games two separate tape-delayed airings. It should be said, however, that Bowling Green and Boston College are unlikely to offer the same drawing power to 2013's edition as the RedHawks and Buckeyes did last season, and that another pair of five-figure crowds would be a pleasant surprise.

As 2ITB mentions, Buffalo previously hosted the Punch Imlach College Hockey Showcase from 1997-2003. It took on a few different formats, but generally involved both Niagara and Canisius along with a pair of "outside" teams. Occasionally, it pulled respectable crowds, as with November 11, 2000's 6,671 for a Niagara-Western Michigan, Mercyhurst-Canisius doubleheader. Most of the time though, it did not. Two years later, the Punch Imlach landed megateams North Dakota and Michigan, but only 2,981 wanted to see how the Griffs and Purps fared against the measuring sticks. A pairing of the two local schools drew 4,314 on January 11, 2002, but things bottomed out in the showcase's final year with a paltry 1,911 for Canisius and UMass-Lowell.

Buffalo is certainly an outstanding hockey market well beyond the size of the city (as is Pittsburgh), but it does have something to prove in terms of college hockey crowds, even when local schools and name programs are involved.

Advantage: Three Rivers Classic

City

As a Rust Belt native, I'm not going to say a bad word about either Buffalo or Pittsburgh. They're both my kind of place, inhabited by my kind of people. Both are underrated nationally, generally dismissed as "the hilly place with yinzers, the Steelers, the Penguins and french fry-topped sandwiches" or "the place with the wings, the snow and underachieving sports teams by Niagara Falls." But I'm not copping out with "push," that's not my style.

I'm not sure that there's a significant program exposure/recruiting edge to be gained from one site versus the other. As mentioned, both markets churn out players at impressive rates but both are already well within PSU's footprint (I suppose it's reasonable to toss a few bonus points Buffalo's way due to their being out of state though).

In terms of the fan experience, I think HARBORcenter gives Buffalo an advantage within the arena's immediate area, but the rub there is that the one "hockey-themed, upscale restaurant and bar" or even the one Marriott hotel are unlikely to be enough to accommodate everyone. That forces people out into the larger city and, in Pittsburgh's case, one of America's still-undiscovered gems. The Strip, Oakland, South Side and Station Square? All worthy destinations during the day before the games, or postgame as well. And don't forget to go up Mt. Washington and snap one of these:

Yes, this is actually my photo from when I did just that last season

Advantage: Three Rivers Classic

Extras

Terry and Kim Pegula donated $102 million to Penn State hockey to finance an arena and allow the school to jump to NCAA Division I. While Pittsburgh has more than its fair share of PSU fans and boosters, nobody from the city has donated $102 million to Penn State hockey.

Advantage: Pegula Challenge

Final Tally

The incumbent Three Rivers Classic hangs on by a 3-2 count. But then again, that last category probably counts for double or triple if push comes to shove, no?

HARBORcenter Lands Canisius

Canisius College and HARBORcenter, Terry and Kim Pegula's $172 million twin rink, retail, hotel and restaurant complex in downtown Buffalo, have finally made it official after roughly nine months of negotiations: the Golden Griffins are moving in upon the project's completion, scheduled for September 2014.

The canned quotes from Canisius president John J. Hurley, athletic director Bill Maher and head coach Dave Smith are nearly identical (as those things tend to be), so let's stick with Smith as the guy closest to hockey.

“This is an exciting day for our hockey program. Partnering with the Buffalo Sabres in a world-class hockey facility further illustrates the commitment to Division I college hockey by Canisius. This top-notch arena will expose fans to a high level of hockey at a number of levels. It will be a tremendous resource with which to recruit, train and develop hockey players. I look forward to the day when a Western New York hockey player competes for the Buffalo Sabres after developing at the HARBORcenter.”

For the school, the agreement is a major boon, as it presently has what could be considered among the worst rink arrangements in Division I. Since 1999, the Griffs have played in Buffalo State's Ice Arena, an 1,800-seat venue on the campus of the DIII school. It's a nice enough place, but hardly ideal for any program with big-time ambition. Overall, Smith's team has seen limited success since moving to DI in 1998 with a 202-256-68 record in 16 seasons. However, Canisius won the Atlantic Hockey tournament last season to advance to the NCAA Tournament and is also looking to position itself as a leader in Buffalo's robust hockey community, with this move being a major step in that strategy.

PSU played at Canisius' current home against Buffalo State on October 19th of last year

While it's true that HARBORcenter isn't their rink either, it seems clear that Canisius, who will be the primary tenant for the complex's main 1,800-seat sheet, is receiving first-class treatment.

The Griffs, Buffalo’s only Division I hockey program, will have their own 1,300-square foot state-of-the-art locker room in addition to separate athletic training areas and access to the building’s Center of Excellence, a high-performance training facility which is designed specifically for development in the sport of hockey.

The 700,000-square foot structure will be connected to First Niagara Center by a pedestrian bridge that will span Perry Street. HARBORcenter will also feature a hockey-themed sports bar and restaurant, a full-service Marriott hotel, an 850-space parking structure and additional retail space.

As mentioned in the quote, a Marriott is included as part of the project, and two weeks ago, the contract to run it was awarded to State College-based Shaner Hotels. In other recent news, John Koelmel was named the facility's president, with former Fredonia State player Nik Fattey serving as its director of hockey (similar to the role Ryan Patrick has with Pegula Ice Arena). Fattey is expected to have a busy job - upon completion, HARBORcenter, with the Sabres' nearby First Niagara Center if needed, will likely draw numerous tournaments and showcases, both small and large. Photos of HARBORcenter's construction progress are consistently added to its official Tumblr.

A rendering of the 1,800-seat main rink at HARBORcenter

This news isn't of great direct impact to Penn State - should the Nittany Lions play in Buffalo at some point, it's hard to believe that First Niagara Center wouldn't be the site - but it can still be filed under "interesting to know." Officially, the Pegulas have now funded two separate DI venues. Only 57 to go, I suppose.

Pegulas Named Homecoming Grand Marshals

Guy Gadowsky and Joe Battista reveal Terry and Kim Pegula as homecoming Grand Marshals.

Terry and Kim Pegula will serve as Grand Marshals for Penn State's homecoming parade next month, an announcement made at the First Annual Homecoming Night 5K Monday evening. The news was first reported by Onward State - here's their initial post in its entirety.

Earlier this evening the Penn State Homecoming Committee announced that Terry Pegula, the man who made Division I hockey in Happy Valley possible, and his wife Kim will serve as Grand Marshals for the Penn State Homecoming Parade this October.

Pegula, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres, originally donated $88 million to the Men’s and Women’s hockey programs. A majority of that gift is being used to construct a state-of-the-art hockey venue, which will be named the Pegula Ice Arena. At the groundbreaking in April, he increased his donation to $102 million.

This year, Homecoming Week will begin on September 29th and conclude on October 6th as Penn State takes on Northwestern.

It's noteworthy, but obviously a coincidence, that the October 5th parade will pass by the construction site of the ice arena that bears the Pegula name as it enters central campus via Curtin Road. Here's the full route of the procession, which begins at 6:00 p.m.

The Pegulas follow 2011 Grand Marshal Adam Taliaferro, a former Penn State football player and current member of the Board of Trustees and 2010 Grand Marshal Allison Baver, a Penn State alumna who won a bronze medal in speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Pegula Power

This post, by Matt Walfrand, originally appeared on Takeover The Game. They don't need me to shill for them and certainly didn't ask for it, but TTG comes with the TYT seal of approval for their fresh and interesting takes, mostly on basketball, soccer and hockey - check them out, and make sure you follow Matt on Twitter (@LeopoldsIpod) to talk Sabres and MAC basketball, and to experience all kinds of Michael Jackson-related hilariousness.

And yeah, it doesn't hurt that it's essentially the me show. Maybe when I'm more used to this and have less of an ego, I won't do things like this, but I'm not.

Since Pegula has taken over the team, the Sabres have been on a roll, except for last night’s clunker against Pittsburgh. But we are not going be talking about Pegula and the Sabres today, but more about Pegula and Penn State hockey with the help of Kyle Rossi from the Thank You Terry blog.

How did Terry get involved with Penn State hockey?

When you first asked me about doing this, even before I knew the questions, I had planned on dropping this story, because it’s actually a great illustration of Terry’s love for hockey. I think most people probably assume that Joe Battista (former coach of the club team, now an associate AD basically in charge of the hockey teams and the arena), who’s made Penn State hockey’s elevation his lifelong quest, saw some guy get a few billion dollars from Shell and started calling him for a handout. Not at all the case.

Terry, of course, is a PSU alumnus (class of 1973) and his son Michael had actually attended some PSU hockey camps in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the fall of 2005, and pretty much out of the blue from what I can tell, Terry approached Battista and asked him why, with everything Penn State has going for it - name brand university in the northeast, devoted following, successful club program - no NCAA program existed. They met for dinner shortly after and Battista explained to him that NCAA programs are expensive - especially in our case, as the Bryce Jordan Center, the basketball arena, was built without ice-making capabilities, so an entirely new facility would be needed. Not only that, but we’d need a women’s program too for Title IX purposes. Terry said that he might be able to help and that he’d talk to Tim Curley (athletic director) to get the ball rolling. Battista had to stifle laughter. Trust me, as someone who’s had to answer that “why are you just club” question a few times myself to outsiders and who never thought anything like this would ever happen, it gets old pretty quickly.

So anyway, Battista goes home, Googles him, and finds out he’s loaded, even back then. They kept in touch despite some setbacks like the 2008 market crash. Battista quit coaching after the 2005-2006 season to move into a fundraising position at the university, which hardly seems like a coincidence now, and Terry’s windfall with Shell in early 2010 put the process into overdrive. But that’s something that will always stick with me - Terry contacted us, basically asking to give money. He may not have known that $88 million would be the ultimate number, but he had to know that it would be well into the eight-figure range, because even I knew that. The common thought was closer to about $50 million, so to go almost double that without even blinking says a lot about Terry as well.

All Buffalo Sabres fans are dying to know, is he a hands on guy or does he stay in the shadows?

Terry’s been pretty hands-on through the early stages of the process, but at the same time, not in an overbearing way. I know that he, Battista, the Pegula Ice Arena architects and construction team have been meeting pretty frequently as that project continues to move forward, and Battista referenced Terry and Kim’s vision for the place in [a recent] article. In fact, back in late November when Ken Campbell [from The Hockey News] was reporting that Terry had signed an agreement to purchase the Sabres, Battista dismissed it saying something like “he was sitting right next to me in a meeting when he was supposed to have been signing that agreement.”

But at the same time, I don’t think I’ve ever heard or seen his name mentioned on the hockey operations side of things, which right now more or less boils down to the coaching search. My impression is that everyone’s on the same page with what we want in a coach, and I’m sure Terry will have to sign off on the hire ($88 million buys you that right). But for the most part, it seems like he’s let Battista and his committee do their thing on that front, which seems to mirror the deference he’s given Darcy [Regier] and Lindy [Ruff] on your side of things, at least so far.

How is the program coming along?

Funny that you ask [that], because we just had developments on [the coaching and recruiting fronts].

First off, Andy Baggot from the Wisconsin State Journal reported that PSU has asked Wisconsin permission to speak with Mark Johnson. This is really the first “actual” news that has leaked out on the coaching search, although Johnson’s been a popular rumor subject since about 12 seconds after our press conference back on September 17th. He’s got the pedigree obviously, name recognition even to non-hockey fans, and he’s had a ridiculous amount of success with the Badger women, so it makes sense on a lot of levels. He’s a splash that would draw interest, he wins, and he can recruit without even opening his mouth. Other guys who have been kicked around (without any substantiation) are Denver’s George Gwozdecky, who’s in the middle of a contract dispute, and Minnesota’s Don Lucia if he gets fired after this season. I like both of those guys too. They’ve both won national championships, and both have experience building up new and/or struggling programs, Gwoz at Miami and Lucia at Colorado College. Derek Schooley at Robert Morris is a personal favorite - he’s charismatic, knows the recruiting area, and he started their program a few years back and has done a good job getting them up to speed. He's probably a longshot, but who really knows what they're thinking? All we really know is that Mark Johnson is somewhere on the list.

Battista has said repeatedly that he doesn’t want to disrupt anyone’s season, so the earliest a hire will be made is after the Frozen Four in late April or May. If an NHL assistant deep in the playoffs makes the short list, it could go longer obviously.

Recruiting-wise, news broke of our first two verbal commitments recruited specifically with the NCAA program in mind on Tuesday. Their names are Jake Friedman (a center) and Tim Carr (a goalie), and both are currently in the Tier III Easter Junior Hockey League, whose playoffs are just underway. I did a post that more or less contains everything I know about them - trust me, this ain’t like doing intel on Brad Boyes, that afternoon made me wish I blogged about the Sabres instead. I’m new to college hockey recruiting since there’s really nothing to follow at the club level, and I can already tell that trying to get decent info on recruits is going to be my least favorite thing ever.

Anyway, both Friedman and Carr will play for the club team in 2011-2012, which they can apparently do without losing a year of NCAA eligibility, and then will at least be considered as available players for the NCAA team when we get started in 2012-2013. We’re planning on only having about five scholarship players that first year, but I’m sure they’ll be considered for two of them, depending on who else might be coming and what we might have to promise to get them.

Questions like “why would anyone commit without knowing the coach,” “are these guys worthy of playing for the NCAA program” and “even if they are, won’t the coach want his own guys playing” are being debated as we speak. As to the second one, Carr shares time almost 50-50 with a guy committed to Boston College on his EJHL team and was being recruited by schools like Clarkson, Union and Northeastern (not exactly BC, Michigan and North Dakota, but still). I don’t know who else recruited Friedman, but he’s a top player in a league that’s not the best source for NCAA players but is certainly a viable one. They probably aren’t future Hobey Baker finalists, but they probably could be solid depth in most programs and stars in a new one.

Another thing that often gets debated is whether any of the current club players will be involved with or are capable of playing on the NCAA team. I don't think anyone, even the people on the inside, really knows that yet, but there a couple guys who are certainly candidates, most notably (in my amateur opinion) George Saad, who will be an academic senior in 2012-2013. You might know his brother Brandon, who is currently with the Saginaw Spirit and is a projected first-rounder in the entry draft coming up. In general, we have a pretty solid group of underclassman right now and I'm sure at least a couple can make the jump.

Would like to thank Kyle Rossi for your time and all of you should check out Thank You Terry for updates on Penn State hockey and college hockey in general. It’s a good read.

Pegula Center Naming Announcement Set

TYT's working name for Penn State's coming ice facility might only have 11 days left to live. Thanks to some Pronchik-fast turnaround from the Collegian's Tony Barton, we now know that:

Penn State Associate Athletic Director for Ice Arena Operations Joe Battista said in an e-mail Monday the Penn State's ice arena will be named at the next Penn State Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for Jan. 21.

He would not specify whether the name would be corporate sponsored or not, saying the decision, "is in the hands of the Board of Trustees."

That's the whole thing for now, so no need to click the link unless you prefer the Collegian's site design, hate my commentary, or both. Without a doubt, the name will be Pegula-influenced. Those things tend to happen when people by that name drop $88 million to pay for the whole thing.

Obviously, I prefer "Pegula Center," which is why I've used it here. I've heard "Pegula Arena" kicked around in some places, but I've never liked it as much because of the "double-uh" sound bridging the two words, and because it doesn't as accurately reflect the multiple uses of the facility.

It should be pointed out that the Office of Physical Plant's long list for the project, issued on September 2, 2010, used the title "East Resources Arena" (page 4). This, of course, refers to Terry and Kim Pegula's former company, sold to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion last May. That specific name is obviously unlikely for that reason, but don't rule out one of the Pegulas' other business interests working its way into the name (editorial comment: "Yuck").

A Second Hockey Team?

The internet (well, the parts I look at, anyway) exploded over the weekend with wild speculation (and yeah, that's pretty much what it is at this point) that Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano is looking to sell, and that one name in the mix of potential buyers is none other than Terry Pegula, whose days of spending large amounts of money on hockey may not be over. Here's a quick roundup of the commentary, starting with the Boston Globe:

Getting vibes once again that Sabres owner Tom Golisano is poking around for a prospective buyer for his Lake Erie stick carriers. Over the summer, Golisano had the locals all aflutter when he noted on local talk radio, “Nothing is written in concrete, but at this point I would say I’m probably going to be the owner of the Buffalo Sabres in five years, maybe 10 years.’’ The name that comes up in all NHL club sales talk is RIMM guru/hockey lover Jim Balsillie, who made himself no friends among NHL owners when he tried to pirate the Phoenix Coyotes away to Toronto’s outer suburbs. But the key name to keep in mind if this heats up: Terry Pegula. He’s the guy who forked over the $88 million gift for Penn State to build a rink and fund scholarships for Division 1 hockey. Pegula’s wife, Kim, is from suburban Buffalo, a good sign for the locals. No one ever wants to leave the Buff.

Pro Hockey Talk had this comment on the Boston Globe story:

Seeing Terry Pegula’s name getting dropped in this is interesting. Pegula dropped a lot of money to essentially found Penn State University’s Division I varsity hockey program. Just tossing around $80 million to build two on-campus hockey rinks including a main building meant to watch college hockey in, and ensure that a major university can start their own program is no small amount of change. The Pegulas are big hockey fans and they’ve worked to get the Penn State deal done for almost five years. It’d be fascinating to see them potentially get involved in the Sabres and we’re sure that Paul Kelly of College Hockey Inc. would love to have such a big supporter of U.S. college hockey end up on the Board of Governors.

It seems like all of the reaction out there is to the Globe piece, but I actually saw it first in the Edmonton Journal:

If Sabres’ owner Tom Golisano decides to sell and he’s made noises of that, Jim Balsillie and his kazillions from BlackBerry might be in the picture but there’s also a fellow named Terry Pegula who just gave $88 million to Penn State to build a rink for NCAA Division 1 play and fund scholarships there. His wife Kim is from suburban Buffalo. Pegula’s made his money in natural gas business.

Balsillie's name always comes up when a team is for sale, but if the Penguins, Predators and Coyotes situations gave any indication, the NHL will use any and all measures available to stop Balsillie from buying the Sabres just so he can move them 70 miles up the road to Hamilton, or maybe 30 miles past that to the Greater Toronto Area. Which leaves Pegula as the only viable candidate being name-dropped for the sale that has yet to be made public, if it even happens.

I'm hopeful it plays out, if only because it would give this nomadic fan who has yet to pick a long-lasting new favorite NHL team since the demise of the Whalers a solid reason to jump on Buffalo.

UPDATE 1, 9:14 a.m. 11/30: The Buffalo News finally jumped on this train. I wouldn't go through the trouble of editing my post just to copy/paste a similar-sounding comment - but the News makes it sound like things are heating up:

Sources confirmed Monday that his interest picked up in recent weeks, although an agreement did not appear imminent. Any sale could take several months, assuming he doesn't lose interest or have negotiations fall apart.

UPDATE 2, 10:07 a.m. 11/30: Pegula has signed a letter of intent to buy the Sabres for $150 million, according to Ken Campbell of The Hockey News.